The White Dragon
by InsanityRunsInMyBlood
Summary: Azula's redemption came in the form of her niece. Read the tale of our favorite Fire Princess and how she immortalized herself in history as a hero of the Fire Nation. Disregards 'the Promise' and 'the Search'. Canon pairings. Tyzula at the very end, but it won't affect the story too much, so if you don't like it you can still read this. (This is half suspension of disbelief XD)
1. Prologue: Welcome Home

**Shortest oneshot I've ever written that doesn't really count as drabble. **

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"To what do I owe the pleasure of having the esteemed Firelord visit me in my humble abode?" The seventeen-year-old princess drawled, looking up from her painting. Zuko smiled.

"I cannot visit my sister without an ulterior motive these days?" He asked innocently.

"You're getting better at the game, Zuzu." Azula commented. "But don't forget I'm the master liar here." She smirked. "Spill."

"Can't hide anything from you, can I?" Zuko muttered.

"I'm waiting." Azula placed her brush down and folded her arms expectantly.

"Mai's pregnant." Zuko said.

"And this concerns me how?" Azula quirked an eyebrow.

"I'm going to let you out. I want you to be a part of your niece or nephew's life." Zuko said.

"That's generous of you, Zuzu. Aren't you afraid that I'll corrupt your child?" Azula asked, stretching languidly.

"No. You've changed." Zuko stated. Azula tilted her head and tugged on the chains binding her ankles together. They made irritating clinking noises.

"Get these off me first." She said. Zuko smiled.

"Open the door." He commanded. The guards obeyed with a slight bit of hesitation, and when they were open the guard handed Zuko the key, and he bent down to unlock his sister's restraints himself.

"I'm honored to have been released by the Firelord." Azula said dryly, bowing her head slightly, showing deference.

"I released you as an older brother, not as your sovereign." Zuko said easily. The two of them walked out of the asylum together, and when their ship arrived back on the island where the capital city lay upon the extinct volcano, Azula smiled genuinely for the first time in years as she stepped down onto the soil of her birthplace. Zuko went to stand next to her and stood there serenely, the sunlight glinting off of the Firelord's golden headpiece. They climbed onto a palanquin and spent the journey to the palace in amicable silence.

The palanquin stopped in front of the main entrance to the palace. The siblings stepped down, and both of them gazed at the impressive structure in front of them.

"Welcome home, Princess Azula."

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**Stay tuned for more! R&R!**


	2. Kazura

**Lol, these are gonna be short, I suppose. Anyways, hope more people are interested if more chapters are up.**

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The baby gurgled, staring at the young woman with long black hair, distinctive bangs, and piercing eyes.

"Go on, you can hold her." Zuko encouraged, handing his daughter to his sister. Azula accepted the bundle quietly, her honey-colored eyes staring into large, pale blue ones. She knew well enough what color they were going to change into. Every child born into the royal family had golden eyes or something close to it. In her case it was amber/honey, having inherited the soft, glowing hue of her mother's eyes, but with her brother it was the prime example of the harsh gold their father's eyes were.

"What are you going to name her?" She asked quietly.

"Kazura." Mai spoke up from the bed.

"It's a good name. Ka, meaning beautiful, Zu, I suppose after Zuko, and Ra, one of the sun deities." Azula mused.

The baby tugged a lock of Azula's hair, since she was wearing it down at the time, a small smile on her chubby face.

"Aooa." Kazura gurgled nonsensically.

"This one is going to be intelligent." Azula looked at her brother. "Your firstborn's a girl." She stated blandly, gauging his reaction.

"I will love her no matter what." Zuko said fiercely. _Unlike father_ passed between the royal siblings silently. Azula smiled and took the newborn's hand gently. As she gazed upon the face of her niece, she made a silent promise to Kazura that she will protect her with her own life.

"And I will be there every step of the way, brother." She said softly, handing her niece back to Zuko before retreating, leaving a stunned Fire Lord and a smiling Fire Lady behind.

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**OOC, isn't it? I just love her too much to write her like a bitch, although it's fun when she is one. XD**


	3. The Fire Lord, Lady, and Princess

**Not even sure what this is. Enjoy XD**

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"Look at her, only one and so spoiled." Katara said fondly, looking at the baby surrounded by her family and the Firelord's closest friends.

"A princess deserves to be spoilt." A new voice said. Everyone turned and saw a beautiful woman leaning on one of the pillars.

"Azula! So glad you could join us. Kazura would be disappointed if you missed her first birthday." Zuko said genially.

"Hmm." Azula made a noncommittal noise, coming over and producing a rather large, exquisitely wrapped present from the inside of her huge robe, handing it to Zuko. He examined it. It was rectangular and the edges felt hard.

"What is this?"

"Don't be daft, Zuko." Azula smiled. "You won't find out before anyone else." She teased her brother.

"Alright, then let's open the presents! I want to know what everyone else got her!" Sokka interrupted.

"You're even more excited than the baby, Sokka." Suki smiled.

"Well, she's hardly old enough to understand anything right now." Katara explained. "And Sokka has always been more of a child than anyone else."

"Hey!" Sokka pouted.

"Alright, alright, let's open the presents now." Mai interrupted, a rare smile on her lips, although she smiled more now that Kazura was here.

"This one is Suki and Sokka." Zuko announced. He opened it to reveal a leather necklace with a golden charm in the shape of a fan in the middle. Six white pearls lay next to the charm, three on each side.

"The pearls are made from the horns of buffalo yaks." Sokka said proudly. "I hunted the animal myself and with the help of Aang we fashioned it into pearls."

"It's beautiful." Zuko said, putting it back into the little wooden box carefully. "I'll give it to her when she's older and less likely to break it." He chuckled. He picked up a rather large, soft packet next.

"From…" Zuko raised his eyebrow. "Four presents, from uncle, Toph, Aang, and Katara." He opened all of them. Four stuffed animals, a red dragon, a badgermole, an air bison, and a white and black koi fish fell out.

"We figured that it would represent harmony between the four nations." Aang explained for all of them. "And give her guardians of a sort at night times." He said.

"Thank you, guys. This is really brilliant." Zuko admired the stuffed animals and handed them to Kazura. The baby frowned at them and picked up the dragon, waving it around happily.

"Seems like she's got an affinity for fire." Azula smirked. "No surprises there."

Zuko rolled his eyes. "Next one's from Ty Lee." He said. Said girl beamed. He opened the present and a red blanket with golden trims and designs fell out.

"I knitted this. I thought it would look nice, you know? The traditional colors." Ty Lee smiled widely.

"It's lovely, Ty Lee." Mai gave her friend a small smile.

"This one's from Azula." Zuko picked the packet up.

"Open mine last." Azula said. Zuko put it down again.

"Okay…" He said. "So this is ours." He looked at Mai lovingly. He opened the package and a small outfit fell out. It was specifically tailored for Kazura. There was a cute silk red shirt with a golden dragon design. A yellow silk sash followed, and wine-red pants with a cute little set of boots followed.

"Aww, she'll look adowable in it!" Ty Lee cooed with a babyish voice. Everyone chuckled except for Azula, who just smirked.

"And now for Azula's." Zuko glanced at his sister somewhat warily.

"Relax. It's not harmful." She rolled her eyes. Zuko opened it carefully and gasped. Everyone leaned forward eagerly, and Zuko raised the frame. Everyone's eyes widened as they took in the painting of Zuko, Mai, and little Kazura. Well, everyone except for Toph.

"What's going on?" She huffed, annoyed.

"It's…a painting…of us." Zuko said, shocked. "What…how…when…?"

"I didn't spend my time doing nothing in the asylum, Zuzu." Azula said exasperatedly. "I've always liked to paint." She shrugged. "It just came to me. There was nothing else I could really get for her birthday."

"Thank you." Zuko said softly. "I'll hang this in our bedroom." He looked at Mai, who nodded.

"Don't thank me, brother. It was my duty. Besides, baby pictures always humiliate them when they grow up."

Everyone groaned.

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**Clap for crappy endings! Yay!**


	4. The Former Fire Lady

**I frickin' hate 'the Search', and I've idealistic, so for whoever wants to see Ursa, voila.**

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On Kazura's second birthday, she received a whole lot of presents from everyone except for one person, who didn't even seem to be present for her party.

"Auntie?" The child warbled, looking around for the familiar sharp features of Azula.

"Yes, do you know where Azula is?" Mai asked Zuko. He shook his head, troubled.

"She became withdrawn around a month ago, and three weeks ago she asked me if she could leave the palace for a trip to the Earth Kingdom. I agreed because I know she wouldn't do anything bad, but…I have no idea where she is. I'm not in contact with her." He said.

"Auntie Zuwa!" Kazura began to wail, crying for her aunt.

"Leave it to Azula to ruin the day." Zuko scowled.

"Now, that is no way to talk about your sister like that, Zuko." A soft voice traveled into everyone's ears. Zuko froze, and whipped around, looking at the entrance to the tearoom.

"M-mother?" He gasped. Former Fire Lady Ursa stepped into the light, a warm smile on her face. Her arms opened for her son, who threw himself into them. Tears ran down mother and son's faces. Finally, they broke apart and Ursa hugged Iroh, Mai, and Ty Lee. She greeted Aang and their other friends as well.

"It's so good to see you again, Princess Ursa." Iroh said. "But how come you've suddenly returned?"

"I did not know about Zuko's coronation. Azula brought me here." Ursa's voice was rich with affection and love.

"I'm sorry I'm late, brother, but I hope my 'present' can make up for—" Before Azula could finish her sentence, she was crushed in a hug by an emotional Zuko.

"Thank you. Thank you…thank you…" He said.

"Gaaaack." Azula made a strange noise. "Stop strangling me, Zuko." She said, but everyone could hear the amusement in her voice. Zuko let her go and held her at arm's length.

"You gave your niece her paternal grandmother." He said quietly. "And you brought our mother back. How did you find out?"

"A month ago I heard you talking to uncle about mother and how father wouldn't tell you her location." Azula shrugged, walking over to Kazura. The young girl squealed at the sight of her, clapping her hands.

"Up!" She demanded.

"Of course, princess." Azula muttered, smiling. She picked Kazura up and looked at Zuko again. "I visited him in prison in the middle of the night around a month ago and…we had a chat." She said. "He finally gave up mother's location and that's why I asked for a leave to the Earth Kingdom." She said, walking over to Ursa. "Mom, meet your granddaughter Kazura." She said, handing the toddler over. Kazura looked confused.

"She's your grandma, Kazu." Azula explained patiently, even though she knew her niece wouldn't understand.

"You nicknamed her Kazu?" Ty Lee giggled. "But it sounds like a boy's name!"

"If she's anything like me she'll be glad for it." Azula responded with a smirk. Zuko groaned.

"Let's hope that she doesn't end up like you, then." He mumbled.

"Zuko." Ursa admonished.

"Sorry, mother."

"My life has just gotten a whole lot better. Finally someone other than Mai and I can scold dumdum." Azula teased Zuko.

"I'll let it slide this time, Azula." Zuko gave the evil eye to Azula, and in return she narrowed her eyes and used an obscure firebending technique to lower the temperature. Zuko shivered involuntarily.

"I win. Again." Azula smirked.

"I hate you."

"Zuko!" Ursa said.

The tearoom was filled with laughter at the misfortune of the young Fire Lord.

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**Poor Zuzu XD**


	5. For As Long As We Both Live

**Yeah...something had to happen...XD**

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A slip, a scream, and then nothing but the sloshing of the waves.

"KAZURA!" Zuko bellowed, watching his three-year-old daughter slump into unconsciousness, dragged away by the currents. He lurched up, but before he or Mai could act, a red blur dove into the water. Powerful strokes brought the figure further out to sea, towards his daughter.

"Who was that?" Mai asked with a panicked expression.

"I didn't see." Zuko shook his head as he and his wife hurried to the edge of the beach.

A head bobbed up and down in the rougher waves further out at sea.

"KAZURA!" Mai shouted herself hoarse. Suddenly a bigger figure with a head of black hair grabbed onto the Crown Princess of the Fire Nation. Then figure began to swim back to shore, and pushed Kazura onto solid ground. The terrified three year old screamed for help, and Zuko waded in as fast as he could, picked her up, and brought her back to shore. The couple fretted over their daughter, forgetting about the person who saved their daughter.

"Zuko!" Mai suddenly said. "Where's the person who saved Kazu?"

Suddenly, it clicked. Black hair…a powerful swimmer…_Kazu_.

"Azula!" Zuko yelled. Mai's eyes widened. Zuko gritted his teeth.

"Agni, please, let this work." He whispered, closing his eyes. He took a running leap and fire burst out of the soles of his feet, propelling him upwards. At first he was unstable, but then he gained control, and he scoured the surface of the ocean. Despair settled in his chest when he couldn't spot anyone in the choppy waves.

"AZULA!" He hollered. The crashing of the sea drowned out his cry. "AZULAAAA!" He roared, trying to compete with the waves, but La's ocean would not lose.

"No…" He whispered. "AGNI, NOOOOOO!" He screamed, breathing jets of fire out in his rage and grief. She can't be gone. She can't. She was too strong to die. Not like this.

The ocean steamed, and Zuko looked at it, stunned. A figure burst out of the surface, skin red and steaming as well. Sparks ran along her body, jerking it once every few seconds. Zuko dove down and caught his sister, propelling himself back to the sandy beach.

He set Azula down on the beach and immediately proceeded to force the water out of her lungs.

With a gasp, Azula bucked up, eyes shooting wide open, spitting a fountain of saltwater straight into Zuko's face. Zuko blinked at the sting and rubbed the water out of his eyes. She hacked a few more times before lying back down on the beach, exhaling deeply.

"Azula! You're okay!" Zuko said, relieved.

"Why wouldn't I be?" Azula asked him. "You're not getting rid of me that easily, Zuzu." She said wryly. "The day I die before you will be the day you've finally beaten me at anything, and I promise you that's never going to happen."

Zuko smiled weakly, hoping with every fiber in his being that she would be able to keep that promise.

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**Weeeeell, didn't ****_that_**** suck. Whatever, at least Azula got to spit saltwater into Zuzu's face XD**


	6. Legacy

**Again, this is NOT meant to be a Mary Sue! It just helps the plot along, and if you haven't noticed already, Azula IS and WILL REMAIN the main character! Happy reading (for this crap shit XD)**

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When Kazura was four, she produced her first flame. Of course, she had produced many sparks and influenced many candles prior to this, but this was the first time she held fire in her palm.

She was alone in her room at the time, reading a book about firebending. She had tried it out absentmindedly, not really expecting it to work, when suddenly, a flare made her yelp. The next thing she knew she was staring at a glowing ball of fire.

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy!" Kazura ran out of her room to her father's study.

"What is it, Kazu? I'm a bit busy right now." Zuko signed another document and stamped it, placing it aside.

"Look!" Kazura whispered excitedly, opening her palm again. The fire flared to life in front of their very eyes.

It was blue.

Zuko inhaled sharply, and just stared at the azure flame flickering back and forth in his daughter's hand.

"Daddy?" Kazura asked, confused. "Aren't you proud of me?

"Huh? Oh, of course, Kazu." Zuko smiled. "I'm extremely proud. I just didn't expect your fire to be blue."

"Why not? Auntie 'Zula's fire is blue, and it's so pretty." Kazura smiled. "And now I have the same fire as her. Will I be as good as her as well? Uncle Iroh said that Auntie was the best firebender in the world, and even he can't beat her!" She said proudly. Zuko smiled, quashing the familiar feeling of jealousy that rose within him.

"Yes...your aunt is an exceptionally talented person." He said softly. "Why don't you go show her? I will join you after I finish all my work." He gestured to the swaying piles of papers on his desk. Kazura giggled.

"Good luck daddy." She teased, running off excitedly.

Zuko watched his daughter leave the room, a pensive expression on his face.

"She grows more alike Azula with each passing day." Mai said, entering the room. Zuko looked at his wife.

"Is that a bad thing?" He asked, troubled.

"No. If I know Azula as well as I think I do, then she'll be fine. In fact, she'll be more than fine." Mai said, threading her slim fingers through Zuko's longish hair. "You and I both know that she would grow up just to be like Azula, but without the shadows of the childhood Azula had." She said gently.

"I'm just…afraid that one day, we will not be here for her." Zuko said, sighing. He placed his brush down carefully and rubbed his temples. Mai guided his hands away and leant down, hair tickling his face.

"Don't worry about that. If we are gone, she will have all of the others, including Azula, and I know she will die for Kazura." Mai murmured into his ear.

"How do you know that?" Zuko asked, closing his eyes. Mai started to massage his stiff shoulders.

"I just do." Was her mysterious reply.

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**Oh Mai, don't pretend you don't love Azula either. See, you even admit that Kazu's gonna be fine if she's like her aunt. **


	7. Pinky Promise

**Okay, this chapter is kind of important...but it's really short again...they'll get longer...kind of...XD**

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"Auntie 'Zula?" The five-year-old child looked up with large, innocent eyes as they sat beneath the big tree in front of the turtleduck pond.

"Yes princess?" Azula looked away from feeding the turtleducks.

"Where is granddaddy? Every time I ask this daddy wouldn't talk." She said, frowning. "Grandmommy is here with us, isn't she? Where is granddaddy?"

Azula paused, throwing another few crumbs at the quacking creatures.

"Your granddaddy…well, princess, what do you know about him?" Azula asked neutrally.

"Well, I know he was Fire Lord once. His name is Ozai, and he's daddy and your daddy with grandmommy Ursa." Kazura said proudly. "I've seen pictures of granddaddy, but I never met him. Can you take me to him?" She asked innocently.

"Perhaps, Kazu. One day, when you're old enough to understand." Azula whispered, eyes suddenly far away.

"Old enough to understand what, auntie? He's my granddaddy." Kazura frowned. "I want to see him. Why would I need to understand anything to see him?"

"Kazu, when I say no, I mean it." Azula said sternly, eyes flashing dangerously. Kazura, never having seen this side of her aunt, recoiled with something akin to fear in her eyes. Azula immediately softened.

"I promise, Kazu, that I _will_ bring you to see him someday. Maybe we can even go with grandmommy and your daddy." She offered.

"Okay, auntie. Pinky-promise?"

Azula hesitated. She doesn't like to break promises to people she truly care about (well, at least nowadays). She doesn't know if Ozai would ever be safe enough to be allowed around Kazura. After all, he had corrupted her herself, and she did not want her niece to end up like her, and despite Kazura's intelligence, she did not possess the same amount of cold calculation and cunningness that Azula did.

"Okay." She conceded defeat after those puppy-dog eyes wavered at her for a few more seconds, and linked her pinky with Kazura's.

"Thank you! You're the best auntie ever!" Kazura squealed, hugging Azula round the waist enthusiastically. Azula was somewhat taken aback by the gesture, but smiled and hugged the child back.

"I love you, auntie 'Zula." Kazura sighed into her happily. Azula froze, memories flashing in her head.

_I love you._

_How could I have raised such a monster?_

_Don't think about these things_, Azula chastised herself. _You already made up with mother during your month away in the village she was in._

"And I you, princess." She finally whispers.

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**Aww, Azula made a promise. Will she keep it?**


	8. Like Aunt Like Niece?

**Purely for entertainment purposes. Filler chap XD**

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When Kazura was six, Katara proposed a trip to the Northern and Southern Water Tribes for all of them as a vacation from the stifling politics. Aang agreed enthusiastically, saying that they could stop at one or two of the air temples during their journey.

"So…who's going, then?" Zuko asked.

"Well, I'm going, definitely." Sokka grabbed a piece of bread from the table and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Do all the people in your tribes eat as messily as you do, uncle Sokka?" Kazura asked. "Or is it just you, Peasant Savage?" She smirked. Sokka choked, and everyone else laughed.

"Kazu, that's not a polite thing to say!" Mai scolded.

"But aunt 'Zula says it all the time! In fact, she's got all sorts of nicknames for you all." Kazura said. Azula gave her niece her perfected 'I'm-going-to-skin-you-alive-not-really-but-you'd-better-run' look, and Kazura gulped.

"Oh really?" Zuko asked, rounding on his sister, who just grinned back at him angelically like she used to do when she was younger. "Like what?"

"Say them auntie! They're all awesome!" Kazura encouraged with an identical grin.

"Zuko…let's see…Honor Eater (A/N: Harry Potter reference ftw XD)…Hotman—"

"See I _told_ you they still use this term!" Aang said triumphantly as Zuko blushed.

"Nobody except for you and Azula uses it, Aang." Zuko rolled his eyes.

"You'd be surprised. Many in the nation still joke about it." Azula informed him smugly. "You'd know if you'd actually step out of the palace."

"Shut up." The present Firelord grumbled. "And I forbid you to speak another word until the end of the meal." He said.

Azula caught Kazura's eyes, and the latter smiled wickedly, catching on to her aunt's intentions.

"Aunt Azula would like to say that she would like to go to the water tribes as well." Kazura said in a formal voice. Zuko gave her a weird look.

"Kazura, stop speaking for your aunt." He said. "And she's not going, too many people will protest."

Azula gave Kazura another discreet look.

"Aunt Azula would like to say that she is going as my bodyguard." Kazura said smugly.

Zuko glared at his daughter, then at his sister.

"Toph, is she saying the truth?" He asked.

"Beats me, I can't tell." Toph shrugged.

"_What?_ Azula I swear to Agni if you've turned Kazura into a liar I'll—" Zuko started to growl.

Azula's shoulders slumped in a soundless sigh.

"Aunt Azula would like to say that you're being a drama queen, and that I was born with this ability unlike someone." Kazura smirked.

"Kazura, that's _enough_!" Zuko snapped. Azula frowned.

"Aunt Azula would like to say that—"

"Kazura." Zuko's voice was low and ominous.

"—you're being too harsh and I have the—" Kazura's voice rose.

"Kazura!"

"—right to speak whatever I WANT!" She finished it in a crescendo.

"KAZURA!" Zuko breathed steam. Azula cracked up, still not making any sound. In fact, everyone except for Zuko was laughing.

"Oh, Zuko, when will you ever learn that like your sister, your daughter is a free spirit?" Ursa asked with a teasing lilt in her voice.

"I'm a spitfire, daddy, and you'd better watch out." Kazura said proudly. Azula smiled widely. "Aunt Azula would like to say that you can never rule over me, daddy, because I'm too much like her for you to ever even try." She drawled in a perfect impression of her aunt. Azula's shoulders shook with mirth.

"Seriously, where is she getting all of this from?" Sokka asked perplexedly. Toph laughed loudly. Azula stretched, tossing a look around the table, rolled her eyes, and slumped down again, looking bored.

"Aunt Azula would like to say that you're all idiots and aren't worth her time, and if you still aren't going to let her go with me, I won't go either." Kazura paused. "And I really won't."

"FINE, she can go!" Zuko finally said, red-faced. Kazura smirked and reached across the table, giving her aunt a high-five.

"I, Kazura, daughter of Firelord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai, Crown Princess of the Fire Nation, hereby allow Princess Azula, sister of Firelord Zuko to speak again." Kazura said smoothly—way too smoothly for a six year-old.

"Thank you, my Crown Princess." Azula dipped her head.

"You planned this out, didn't you?" Zuko scowled.

"Silly Zuzu. How can I plan this if I don't even know what you're going to say? For all I know you could agree to me going to the tribes." She said innocently.

"But you _knew_ that I wouldn't." Zuko insisted.

Azula just smiled.

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**Lol**


	9. Drive

**Again, interaction between Azula and her niece. If you don't really understand, you don't need to XD**

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At seven years old, the Crown Princess' firebending was enough to rival even her father's, and Zuko was no pushover.

"Let me see the Southern Dragon Claw again." Azula demanded. Kazura took a deep breath and repeated the form precisely. Every step, twist, kick, and leap was controlled and measured, but her flames were wild and beautiful, azure like the cloudless sky above them. When the last part came, Kazura landed perfectly, rising with pride radiating off of her.

"At this rate you'll beat even me." Azula smiled. "Excellent job as usual, Kazu."

"Thank you, Sifu Hotwoman." Kazura bowed with a large smile on her face. "But I know that you're the best firebender in the world. You were able to get into master techniques at my age. I'm only at intermediate." She pouted slightly.

"Well, let me tell you why." Azula said, beckoning her niece closer. "Your grandfather was a powerful bender, and your grandmother is descended from Avatar Roku. Plus, I was born in one of the hottest summers our nation has ever seen." She smiled.

"Wow." Kazura said with shining eyes. "So I'm also descended from Avatar Roku?" She asked.

"Yes." Azula said. "Your father, you, and I…we're all descended from both the lines of Sozin and Roku. Do you know the history behind your father and my great-grandfathers?" Azula asked. Kazura shook her head. Azula patted the stone next to her. Kazura sat next to her.

"Father mentioned something about the war between good and evil in everybody to uncle Aang the other day. I didn't pay too much attention." She said.

"Well, Kazu, your father was right about that." Azula said. "Do you know the story behind his banishment?"

"Yes. It's written in my history book."

"That fast?" Azula mumbled to herself. "Well, then you must know he was banished for speaking out of turn at one of Firelord Ozai's war meetings." Her father's name tasted strange on her tongue, and at that moment she remembered the promise she made to her niece to bring her to see her grandfather.

"Yes. Father then fought an Agni Kai against the Firelord." Kazura said. "And that's how he got his scar."

"Correct." Azula dipped her head. "My father supplied him with a ship, some soldiers, and my uncle went on him on his trip to regain his honor. Zuko valued his honor above all else when he was banished, and he believed that capturing the Avatar and bringing him back to father would restore it." She said. "At the siege of the Northern Water Tribe, Iroh betrayed our nation by working with the water tribe. Your father inadvertently killed a man. Commander Zhao, his name was." Azula said, remembering the reports she read.

"My father killed a man?" Kazura asked softly. Azula looked down at her niece.

"It was war, Kazura." She said, saying the girl's full name, which meant that she was serious. "It was either his life or Zhao's."

"I understand." Kazura said after a moment's pause.

"But your father did tell me he tried to save Zhao. The admiral refused." Azula explained.

"Dad's a good man." Kazura said firmly.

"Indeed." Azula said quietly. "Anyways, after the news reached my father's ears, he called me to give me a mission. I was to capture Zuko and Iroh and bring them home for punishment." She said. "I accepted, of course. Then Li and Lo, my advisors at the time, told me that a royal procession would slow me down. They were right, of course, so I formed my own elite team." Azula smiled faintly. "And that's when your aunt Ty Lee and your mother came into the equation."

"So you knew mom and aunt Ty Lee when you were young, then?" Kazura questioned.

"We went to the same school—Fire Nation's Royal Academy for Girls." Azula said. "Of course you wouldn't know about it since Zuko's adamant about you being homeschooled. Sometimes I don't understand my dolt of a brother."

Kazura giggled, used to hearing her aunt diss her father. "If you're worried about me not having any friends, it's okay, auntie. Uncle Aang and aunt Katara bring Kya over when they come, and aunt Toph also brings Lin over to play, too. They're my best friends in the entire world." She said happily. Azula smiled.

"I can just see you three plowing down anyone standing in your way. A waterbender, daughter of a master and the Avatar, with a firebender, daughter of the Firelord, and finally put with an earthbender, daughter of the first metalbender on the entire planet." Azula listed. "You three will be unstoppable."

"Yeah…" Kazura said dreamily. Azula chuckled.

"Do you want to hear more about your father's struggles?"

"Yes!"

"Well, after I recruited your mother and Ty Lee, we set off trying to capture Aang. He evaded us every time, and the few times we cornered him he escaped." Azula said. "It was frustrating, but he was not my main goal at the time. I wanted my brother and uncle so I could finish the mission I was given. By that time your father and Iroh had escaped to Ba Sing Se, so we had to figure out a way to get into the impenetrable city. The drill failed, of course, because of the Avatar, and that was when I realized that he also had to be prioritized." Azula grimaced slightly.

"And you captured the Kyoshi Warriors and pretended to be them! And then you infiltrated Ba Sing Se, beat Long Feng, and controlled the Dai Li! Inside of the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, you and father defeated Aang and Katara, and you conquered Ba Sing Se within the space of a few days while it took uncle Iroh six hundred days to siege the city but fail in the end." Kazura recited, awe laced in her voice. "You're awesome, aunt 'Zula."

Azula smirked. "Yes, I like to think so too. So what happened next would be glorified in the history books, I'm sure." She rolled her eyes. "Iroh was captured and Zuko and I returned home as conquering heroes. Mai became the girlfriend of your father, and everything was well for a while…until the Day of the Black Sun."

"Aang and the others invaded the city, didn't they?" Kazura asked softly, referring to the capital city in the Caldera where they were right now.

"Yes. My father anticipated an attack and we went to hide in an underground bunker, but your aunt Toph, being a master earthbender, could sense it, and her, your uncle Sokka, and Aang found where my father was supposed to be. However, I was there instead of father, and for the remainder of the eclipse, I distracted the three of them with two Dai Li agents helping me. Of course, the invasion failed, and they retreated, but we took prisoners of war." She said. "And this is when Zuko confronted our father, telling him that he was going to join Aang's group. You could imagine how furious your mother was at that time, since Zuko broke up with her by leaving a note."

"Knowing my mother, I'm surprised that she allowed father back into her life." Kazura snorted.

"I know right?" Azula laughed. "The next time they met was when your father and Sokka broke into the Boiling Rock to rescue Suki and the warriors we had captured during the invasion. They succeeded, but only because your mother and aunt Ty Lee betrayed me." She sighed, face darkening.

"My mom betrayed you?" Kazura gasped, eyes wide.

"I assume she never told you this." Azula said calmly. Kazura pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"But why?"

"Her love for Zuko weighed more than her fear for me." Azula said. "And Ty Lee chi-blocked me moments after Mai helped Zuko and his friends escape. I locked them up, of course. I was seething. Furious. I didn't understand why they would betray me." She barked out a bitter laugh. Kazura placed a hand on her aunt's arm, looking solemn.

"I'm sorry for what my parents did to you, aunt 'Zula." She said. Azula looked at her niece in surprise.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. The two years I spent in the asylum allowed me to come to terms with myself and everyone around me." She said. "And we mended our relationships." She said.

"Still. They shouldn't have done that to you." Kazura grumbled. "I'm going to talk to my parents about this."

"You're a kindhearted girl, Kazu." Azula said gently. "And I love you for it, but do not go to your parents. They were right, and I was in the wrong." She explained. "I burnt all my bridges to my past morals, so to speak." She said dryly. Kazura managed a small smile. "I underwent the same problem as your father did. He told me that for a while after he joined up with the Avatar's group, he lost his firebending."

"You can lose your bending?" Kazura gasped. "I thought only uncle Aang could take away bending like he did to grandfather!"

"There's chi-blocking, do not forget, but no. For firebenders, their ability to bend is not only physical. It has to do with drive and emotion. Many firebenders used rage to fuel their bending, and so did Zuko. When he confronted father, he lost that rage, and he had to find something else to fuel his fire." She said. "And now I have a question for you, Kazu." Azula looked at Kazu intently. "What is your drive for your fire?"

"My drive?" Kazura pondered this for a bit. "My drive…is my love and loyalty to my parents, to you, and to every one of my aunt and uncles. To my family, and I know I have a duty to the nation as Crown Princess as well." She said.

"You speak like someone far older than her age." Azula observed.

"I learnt from the best." Kazura smiled at the woman of twenty-five. Azula smiled back.

"It is a good drive, Kazu." She said. "See, originally I was dominated by the Sozin half of my bloodline. My drive for my bending was cold, calculated precision and the will to be perfect. After I spent a few months raving in the asylum, I calmed and started to think rationally again. My drive fizzled out, and for the rest of the first year I could not bend. I was terrified, until your father came and visited me. He recognized the internal war immediately when the nurses described my frequent fevers. He finally explained that my other great-grandfather was Avatar Roku. I realized that nobody was perfect once he explained all of the mistakes that everyone had made, including my forefathers, Roku, and he himself. My drive grew again, but this time it was with the knowledge that fire is _life itself_. My passion became my love for my life, which I had not truly treasured until I lost the Agni Kai eleven years ago, and I finally accepted the Roku half of my bloodline." She said.

"So…are you more inclined toward the good or evil side?"

"You can say that I'm neutral. Nothing will make me forget all of the atrocities I committed during the war, but nothing can deter me from striving to be…a good person, in a sense." Azula responded thoughtfully.

"Azula! Kazu! It's time for lunch!" The cheerful voice of Aang interrupted them. Across the courtyard, the Avatar waved at them enthusiastically. Azula stood with a smile on her face.

"We'll join your shortly!" She called back. Aang nodded and went on his way. Azula looked down at her niece, who also stood. "Never forget your drive, Kazura." She said.

"I won't, aunt Azula."

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**Well, for once I've nothing to say. Hope you liked it!**


	10. A New Duty

**My crappy plot's starting to pick up! Huzzah...**

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"Azula." Zuko said. The two princesses turned, one at the sound of her name, one at the sound of her father's voice.

"Zuzu." Azula greeted.

"Dad." Kazura smiled.

"Kazu, hurry on ahead, please. I need to talk to your aunt alone." Zuko said. Kazura pouted but nodded.

"See you, aunt 'Zula!" She said. "I'll be with Kya, Bumi, Tenzin, and Lin!"

"My child listens more to you than either of her parents." Zuko muttered.

"Wasn't it the same with you and uncle?" Azula shot back. Zuko conceded defeat, much to Azula's amusement. "Give it up, Zuzu, you're never going to win as long as you and I are both alive."

"Don't say things like that." Zuko admonished. Azula gave him a wry smile.

"You and I both know that one of us is going to leave first, and nobody knows when they're going to go." She said. "There's no point avoiding the topic."

"Still." Zuko grumbled. "You're my baby sister. I don't want you to die." He said. Azula swatted his arm affectionately as they walked toward the war room.

"I'm not your _baby_ sister. I'm only two years younger, Zuzu." Azula rolled her eyes, pulling open the curtains. "After you, my lord brother." She smirked. This time it was he who rolled his eyes.

"Zuko." Aang greeted. "Why have you called us here?" He asked.

"Have a seat, everyone." Zuko said first, walking up to the throne and sitting there, but the customary firewall was not present. "Alright. Everyone knows that ever since Republic City was set up, problems have sprung up everywhere." He said. "The city has been separated into three sectors as of now, by its own people." He said.

"The benders of the city have formed a gang called the Triple Threat Triad." Toph informed them on the situation. "My metalbenders are new to the city. As powerful as the skill is, they cannot handle everything." She said grimly.

"Which is why we have set up a council with one representative from each nation to take care of the problems surrounding the city." Sokka said. "I will be the representative from the Southern Water Tribe. There will be someone from our sister tribe. Toph is the chief of the metalbending police, so she is out as a candidate for the earth kingdom. Luckily, we found someone who is experienced enough. Haru will be waiting for us in Republic City when we get there. Aang, of course, will be the representative for the air nomads as a whole." Sokka said. "The problem lies in finding a good representative for the Fire Nation."

"I have duties to attend to here as Firelord. I cannot run back and forth between here and Republic City to be the representative. Uncle declined the offer, saying that he has the tea shop to take care of, and mother isn't really much into politics anyways." Zuko said, looking at Azula. "Which is why we've chosen you, Azula." He said. "You will represent our nation in Republic City."

Azula sat there with a neutral expression. "That I can accept, if the people will have an ex-convict as a representative." She said wryly.

"They will." Zuko said firmly in a voice that held no room for any arguments. Azula smiled to herself. Her older brother was truly meant for the throne. Over the years she realized that she was too much of a free soul to be confined to the life of a Firelord, and was actually glad that she didn't become one and lose herself even further along the way. Then a question popped into her mind.

"If I leave, who will finish teaching Kazu firebending?"

Everyone was silent for a while.

"I will." Zuko said.

"Hmm." Azula regarded him critically. "Are you sure you can juggle the two jobs? Kazu is very demanding." She said. Zuko nodded.

"I am her father." He said.

"Good." Azula murmured. "I will brief you on her progress after the meeting."

"Alright, so now that we've got the council sorted out, we need a name." Sokka declared.

"How about the United Republic Council? Simple yet effective." Aang suggested.

"That could work, Twinkletoes." Toph nodded.

"So you, Aang, Sokka, and Toph leave for Republic City at dawn." Zuko said.

"What?" Azula cried in surprise. "That leaves me less than twenty-four hours to pack and say goodbye!"

"Sorry for the late notice, Azula. I hope you won't blast us with lightning." Aang said. Azula's mouth twitched.

"Is this meeting over?" She asked as Aang chuckled.

"Dismissed, princess." Zuko smiled apologetically.

"Come find me later for Kazura's training progress. Right now I've got to break the news to your daughter. You so owe me." Azula muttered as she stalked out. She quickly made her way through the palace halls to the garden where her mother, Katara, Mai, Ty Lee, and Suki were playing with the children.

"Aunt 'Zula!" Kazura looked up from young Lin.

"Hey kids. Mom, girls." Azula greeted with nods, sitting down next to Ursa with a sigh.

"What's troubling you, Azula?" Ursa asked.

"The meeting was to tell me that I am needed in Republic City as the councilwoman representing the Fire Nation." Azula said.

"Wow, that's great, aunt Azula." Kya said with shining eyes. "You're working with dad and the others now, right?"

"Right." Azula confirmed, smiling at the firstborn of Aang and Katara. "But I have some bad news too."

"You're leaving tomorrow, aren't you?" Katara said. Kazura gasped.

"Yes. So I suppose you and the children will stay here while Aang goes to the city?" Azula asked. Katara nodded.

"And you, Suki?"

"I'm staying with my warriors." Suki said. Ty Lee grinned at her leader.

"But…auntie…you can't leave." Kazura said. "You still have so much to teach me!"

"I know, Kazu." Azula said, sighing again. "But I have to. I have a duty to our nation like you, princess. You just stay here and let your father train you while I'm gone." She turned to Katara. "Has Aang told you the details of his departure? As in how long we will be gone?"

"Well, since the council is new, I suppose it will take some time to get used to it, so Aang informed me that he was going to be away for at least a month." Katara said.

"Sokka told me that he wouldn't be back until the triad is subdued." Suki said. "Which, of course, could mean a month to a whole year." She mumbled angrily.

"Hey, I'm sure he'll come and visit regularly." Ty Lee comforted her. "And you, 'Zula?" She chirped.

"Of course." Azula said. "I'm packing lightly. Those criminals really don't want to get on my bad side." She said. "The sooner they're thrown into prison, the sooner I can return." She said, cracking her knuckles.

"Yeah! Go aunt Azula! Kick ass for us!" Kya hooted. Katara scolded her, but she also had a smile on her face. Kazura grinned at Kya, and they high-fived.

"Azula." Zuko said, coming to a halt in front of the group of ladies and children.

"What do you want _now_, Zuzu?" Azula asked, annoyed. "Can't you see we're having quality girl time?" She smirked.

"I need a full report on Kazura's progress." He said.

"Can't this wait until evening?" Azula sighed.

"No. It can't." Zuko replied just as annoyed.

"Is that an order, your highness?" Azula mocked, standing up. Zuko scowled at her and just walked away.

"My study, now." Zuko tossed back. Azula rolled her eyes.

"You really should stop antagonizing him." Mai drawled.

"It's too fun." Azula smirked.

"You two will never change, will you?" Ursa sighed with an affectionate smile.

"We're siblings, mom. Besides, consider whose children we are first." Azula said, and Ursa smiled slightly sadly.

"Yes…you two do remind me of better times." She said. Then Azula did a very surprising thing—she hugged her mother.

"I once promised Kazu I'd take her to see _him_." Azula murmured in her mother's ear. "Kazura was five when she asked. Now she's eight. If I don't return in two years, take her to see him with Zuko."

Ursa looked at Azula worriedly.

"Why would you not return for two years?" She demanded.

"You never know, mother." Azula smiled grimly. "In a place I hardly know, dealing with three types of benders, it might just take more than a few months to handle them, especially if I think they're doing what they're doing."

"What do you think they're doing, then?" Katara asked worriedly.

"I have a hunch." Azula's eyes darkened. "But I hope to Agni and the spirits that I'm wrong." She muttered, heading after Zuko.

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**Stay tuned for Azula's hunch. *ominous music* Well, on that cheerful note, I ask you to review please ;)**


	11. The Republic Four

**Welcome to Republic City...**

* * *

The twenty-seven year-old woman ran down the central street, extending her arms out in semicircles and bringing them back down before pushing them straight forward. The resulting twin bolts of lightning hissed and arched in front of the group of criminals in front of her, blowing up the pavement. Screams and shouts could be heard, and a blind woman caught up to them, splaying her hands and jerking them up. The pavement rumbled and trapped the five wide-eyed firebenders in a tight space, restraining any movement.

"That's the last of them." Sokka said, dragging his own prisoners—two waterbenders—over with disgust on his face.

"No. There's another group down the road. Earthbenders." Toph pointed down a road intersecting with the one they were currently on.

"Alright, Toph, you take care of these. Azula, let's go!" Sokka said. As they ran towards the direction Toph pointed in, Azula spoke to Sokka.

"Why are we doing this? I thought councilmen and women weren't supposed to actively deal with the criminals." Azula said. "I mean, I'm not complaining—anything is better than staying in a boring office, but if we're doing this what are the metalbenders doing?"

"I don't know. I don't care either." Sokka said. "It's Toph's job to take care of her forces. I just know that as a founder of the city and someone with an adventurous spirit, I won't just stand by and do nothing."

Azula snorted. "Well-said, water peasant." She teased. Over the years, 'water peasant' has become an endearment rather than an insult, and Sokka was fine with it.

"There!" Sokka threw his boomerang with precision, and the weapon flew around the three men, scaring them, before it returned to Sokka's waiting hand. Azula immediately let loose blasts of blue fire tinged with white, forcing the firebenders to go on the defensive. The waterbender shot water whips at her, but she deflected them with jabs like the time she deflected Aang's strikes on top of the drill at the outer walls of Ba Sing Se. The earth rumbled and trapped Azula, but she smirked and launched off the ground by using the rocket technique. She flew above them, and as the waterbender tried to extinguish her jets of fire, she countered it with a superheated blast that turned their surroundings into steam.

However, the waterbender was smart and manipulated the steam, clearing the area. Azula scowled.

"We can't beat them!" Sokka shouted. "They're one of the elite teams consisting of one of each bender!"

"Then stay back!" Azula shouted, diving into the midst of the three of them. She dodged their attacks and paralyzed the earthbender first with a few well-placed jabs. Then she flipped out of the way of an incoming fireball and subdued the firebender with the same technique, and finally she chi-blocked the waterbenders as well.

"Thank you Ty Lee." Azula said, smiling with satisfaction as she stared down at her defeated opponents.

"That was some serious kickassery, Azure." Sokka said. This nickname stemmed from the fact that Azula's fire was blue, and it also sounded like her name anyways.

"I know." Azula said with a crooked smile. Toph chose this moment to come over, snapping handcuffs over the chi-blocked gang members.

"Great job with these three. _Now_ that's the last of them." Toph said. She motioned her officers forward. "Take them back to the station." She said.

"Yes ma'am." The metalbenders dragged the men away.

"Those are only the active members. Now the triad will be out for blood." Aang said, swooping down on his glider. He landed, snapping it shut with a spinning move. "As I flew over the city I saw that the streets were abandoned." He said worriedly. "We don't give the fear factor enough credit."

"Oh, I know exactly how fear works." Azula said. "At this stage, it's better to wait it out. The leader will make a move soon when he catches wind of what just happened." She said. "He will make a public appearance soon." Her eyes narrowed. "For now, we should retreat to Air Temple Island."

"You've got an idea as to what they're planning, don't you?" Toph asked, pointing a finger at her accusingly.

"For everyone's sake, I hope I'm wrong." Azula said, repeating the words she said the day before she left Caldera City.

Aang blew Appa's whistle, and the four of them climbed on. They arrived back at Air Temple Island and went into the living room, everyone except for Azula collapsing on the couch. She went straight to the radio and turned the volume up.

"Turn it off." Toph said irritatedly. Azula came to sit next to her.

"Just listen." She said intently. A few minutes later, the advertisements for traditional Fire Nation furniture ended and an official message from the police headquarters.

"Today all active members of the Triple Threat Triad have been captured by Chief Toph Beifong, Councilman Sokka, and Councilwoman Azula. The triad members consist of seven waterbenders, eleven firebenders, and five earthbenders. Their trials will be held tomorrow publically in front of the City Hall." The voice crackled over the radio. "That will be all." The radio buzzed.

"Next up, we have the president of the Cabbage Co—" Azula snapped the radio off.

"There. You heard that, right?" She asked. "I'm willing to bet anything that tomorrow during the trials the mysterious leader of the triad will make a public appearance and screw everything over." She said in a frank tone.

"So that's what you didn't want to tell us?"

"Yes." Azula lied. Toph gave no indication to show that she knew, because she really couldn't tell with the princess. "I didn't want to sound like a fool, but that announcement just secured my suspicions." She said.

"Very well. We will deal with it…in which case I will have to stay overnight at Headquarters."

"I'll go with you." Azula said. "We need to organize undercover forces all around the City Hall and look out for anything suspicious." She stood, and the two ladies made their way to the door.

"Wait, we'll come too." Sokka said, standing. "I'm not letting all my hard work go to waste."

"I'll be there, too." Aang stood as well. Azula smiled.

"Then what are we waiting for? We've got a big fish to catch."

Sokka grinned. "I'll _really_ catch a big fish for us to eat if we succeed."

"Oh we can." Toph cracked her knuckles.

"Let's do this." Aang said firmly.

* * *

**You can do it and review too! XD**


	12. Agni Kai

**Voila, the next chappie.**

* * *

Nobody knew why the twenty-eight year-old princess just suddenly left her post in the middle of the cold war. Ever since the disaster a year ago, Republic City has fallen into chaos. See, a year ago, during what has become known as 'The Triple Triad Trials', the leader of the triad indeed exposed himself to the public. He was a firebender, and a savage tyrant by the sound of him. His name was Lightning Bolt Zolt, and he was young and very charismatic. He and some of the higher members in the triad disrupted the trials and managed to rescue their captured members, injuring many metalbending officers and even incapacitating Toph for a short while. In the end, they were forced to retreat when Aang entered the Avatar State, but it was still the most humiliating experience Toph suffered, and she vowed revenge. Not only that, some of her metalbenders died a few days after the trials, their injuries having been too extensive for even the best waterbenders in the city to heal, and Katara could not get there on time even if she wanted to.

Therefore Sokka, Aang, and Azula had all promised to Toph that vengeance would be served. Aang even proposed that when they catch Zolt, he would take the man's bending away like he did Ozai's, as lives had been lost because of Zolt's lightning.

That is why it was so surprising that Azula suddenly withdrew from Republic City. She left in the middle of the night, leaving a note to Aang. Needless to say, the Avatar was furious, but could not leave his post as he had an important duty to the city. Now the council was missing its Fire Nation representative and one of its best fighters when the city needed her most. Katara, Mai, and Suki and her Kyoshi Warriors are all going over to replace Azula, who was on her way back to the Fire Nation right now.

The sun set beneath the horizon as Azula's ship docked at Caldera City's harbor. She leapt down from it and propelled herself directly over the winding path and over the volcano's edge, landing in front of the Royal Palace. Zuko, having caught wind of her sudden return, went to greet her in the front courtyard, albeit not with a happy expression.

"What were you thinking? Aang sent me a messenger hawk saying that the triad is making their move." Zuko said. "Why did you leave? The girls had to go because of your disappearance."

"I'm tired." Azula snapped. "I spent fourteen years of my life striving for perfection preparing for a war which I lost in the end. Then I spent two years in an asylum, and now I have to take care of problems in a city that you and Aang made. Granted, I have grown attached to it and honestly? I care for the city and I have poured much into protecting the people and trying to fend off the triad. Zuko…I was gone for two years fighting another war that's not even my own." She said. "You forced the job of councilwoman onto me, and I accepted it without much of a complaint, even if I had to leave almost immediately." She gave him a pointed look, walking towards the inner parts of the palace. "I helped Aang, Sokka, and Toph take care of the city. The Northern Water Tribe's representative does nothing to help us, and Haru is caught up doing most of the paperwork and training new metalbenders after he perfected the art with Toph as his teacher. Effectively, the city was run by us and protected by us, and I have done a reasonable job so far." She said, and there was nothing Zuko could say to counter that because she was right. "I really need a break. I cannot go anywhere in the city without people pointing and staring at me."

"Azula!"

Before Zuko could retort, Ursa had Azula in a loving embrace.

"Oh, look at you!" She cooed. "You've grown so much! Oh I missed you so much my baby girl."

"Mom, I was twenty-six when I left, now I'm twenty-eight…I'm not sure I get the logic there." Azula said, but she was smiling as she hugged her mother back. "I missed you too."

"AUNTIE!" A voice yelled excitedly. As soon as the two women broke apart, a missile slammed into Azula, knocking her back a few steps.

"Now _this_ is what I call having grown a lot." Azula said. "Look at you, you're up to my chest!" She said, taking in Kazura's appearance. "How's your firebending training going?" She asked.

"It's great! I've mastered all the forms in advanced, and I'm moving onto the master ones. Dad says he can't teach me anymore. I have to find a master." Kazura pouted.

"Zuko, you can't be serious." Azula looked at the Firelord blankly. "You haven't learnt the master techniques?"

"I was banished when I was thirteen, Azula, give me some credit." Zuko said frustratedly. "I could still learn." He grumbled.

"Well duh." Azula muttered. "C'mon, let's go in, I'm _starving_." She said. "The food in Republic City just doesn't live up to good old traditional dishes."

"I'll tell the chef to make your favorites." Ursa smiled warmly, heading towards the kitchens. Zuko, Azula, and Kazu walked into the spacious dining room, settling down comfortably.

"What, Zuko, where's Mai?" Azula questioned.

"She returned to Omashu to visit her parents." Zuko said. Azula nodded. That was good news for her plan.

"Did anything happen the two years I was gone? You didn't keep in contact with me at all, Zuzu." Azula said in an accusatory tone. "I sent you a hawk the day I arrived, but I never got a letter back."

"I never received one." Zuko said, a troubled expression on his face.

"Maybe the hawk got into an accident." Kazura said. She missed the look her father and aunt shared. They certainly didn't think it was an accident.

Ursa returned with Iroh in tow, and the royal family ate their dinner in a comfortable silence, someone occasionally praising the food, or sharing a joke.

After dinner was over, Zuko called Azula to his office. She made her way there and closed the door behind her.

"I assume you wanted to talk about the intercepted hawk?" Azula questioned, sitting down on the other side of the redwood desk. Zuko nodded. "I only wrote to you stating that I had arrived with the others and we had successfully set up the council, and I was to stay on Air Temple Island with Aang, Sokka, and Toph. I don't think that counts as classified information because it was public anyways." She said.

"Who could have intercepted it, though?"

"A lot of people." Azula shrugged. "Some kid wanting a hawk or someone firebending it down for fun, or just for food." She said.

"We both know it wasn't any of the above." Zuko said harshly. "What do you really know?"

"It was the Triple Threats." Azula finally sighed. "Nobody else would have bothered to do something like that. Messenger hawks are too intelligent for normal people to know how to handle them."

"But the only people who know how to capture them by force come from the Fire Nation…more specifically, from the army divisions or the palace itself." Zuko said.

"Exactly." Azula said gravely. "The Triple Threats are made up of three kinds of benders. Most of the firebenders in the city aren't native. They fled our nation under your rule because they're not happy about the peace. I'm sure you understand that a nation full of prosperous people about to win a war would not like to suddenly be put in the position we were put in after the war. They were close to total victory, and now we still have to pay reparations to the Earth Kingdom." Azula snorted. "The war ended when I was fourteen, Zuko. We're still giving nearly a third of the money produced by our exports to the Earth Kingdom. Have you seen some of the cities and towns there? Now that Kuei is back on the throne and a lot more assertive, each city has its own nobles, and none of the people are starving. Our nation?" She laughed. "I used to think that peasants only came from the water tribes and the Earth Kingdom, but now our country has more than both of them." She said. "So it's not surprising at all why some of them went."

"But I put down any rebellions claiming to be 'Loyalists'." Zuko said.

"Zuko, they're not stupid." Azula said. "They know that father is useless now. They're merely using his name as a rallying point." She said.

"But they are surely with the triad?" Zuko asked worriedly.

"These 'Loyalists'?" Azula frowned. "Probably, but you've taken them out, right?"

"Most of them are in the Boiling Rock." Zuko said with a grim smile. "Some of them escaped, but I've heard nothing."

"Hmm…" Azula narrowed her eyes. "That's good…that's good…may I be excused?" She asked formally. Zuko gave her a strange look.

"By all means, just walk out, Azula. There's no need for formalities." He said. Azula chuckled.

"Good night, Zuzu." She murmured softly. Once she was out, she hurried to her room and changed into nondescript clothes, throwing a huge cloak on. She snuck out of the palace and to a house on the outer edge of the caldera. She rapped on the entrance smartly.

"The morning sun of our nation's glory." A rough voice whispered after a moment.

"Shall give rise to the ashes of the phoenix." A smooth voice completed the sentence. The door opened.

"You weren't followed, were you?" The man asked.

"I'm not an idiot." The woman retorted in a low voice.

"Good. We move before dawn." He said. "All the other members are gathered in the basement. They await your orders, princess Azula." He bowed.

"It seems the Loyalists have been doing well." Azula muttered as she flung open the door, revealing rows upon rows of solemn-faced men and women.

"Princess Azula." They sunk onto their knees, heads bowed, showing respect.

"Rise." Azula's voice rang loud and clear. She lowered her hood and examined the neatly arranged group of people. She turned to the man who had greeted her at the door. "Your plan?"

"We are to move into the palace, incapacitate the guards, and our elite team is going to sneak in and pretend to be the servants." He gestured at a small group of people at the back. "One of them will put bending-suppressants in his morning tea, and then you will challenge him to an Agni Kai, princess."

Azula smiled darkly. It was a truly ingenious plan. "And you are sure you can pull it off?" She questioned. "He will not accept an Agni Kai at dawn. It's fought at sunsets, in case you've forgotten."

"He won't wait until sunset if you force him to." The man said. "He's already thrown many traditions out of the window."

"True." Azula conceded. "Very well." She said. "I will be your Firelord after dawn tomorrow." She said. "Don't screw this up." She walked off the stage, throwing her hood on.

"You heard the princess! Get back to training!" The man yelled as Azula made her way out of the run-down house.

She returned to the palace quickly and to her satisfaction, she found a messenger hawk waiting for her in the perch in her room. She took the message from its back and checked the seal, noticing that it was unbroken. Breaking it, she scanned the contents.

_The plan is in motion. We move tomorrow evening and kill him as discussed. You know what to do. _

"So they'll do it even if the intended recipient doesn't get this note." Azula murmured. "Perfect." She looked at the messenger hawk and stroked its head. She opened the windows wide and it nipped her before flying out, spreading its majestic wings.

The piece of paper withered into ashes in her palm as golden eyes stared at the waning moon in the dark sky peppered with white-blue stars.

With an almost inaudible sigh, the princess let the ashes fall to the ground before going to her desk. She picked up the brush and dipped it into the pot of ink.

_Dear Zuzu…_

An hour of grueling thinking, writing, crossing out, and rewriting later, Azula finally dried the paper and rolled it up, placing it in a secret compartment in her room's wall. She washed up and went to bed, preparing herself mentally for the chaos that was sure to come the next morning.

Indeed, chaos reigned the palace even before the sun rose. Azula found herself in the middle of it with a smirk adorning her face.

"Hello, Zuko." She said calmly as the Firelord burst into the courtyard where they fought their last Agni Kai.

"Azula!" He shouted, surprised. "What are you doing here? What's happened?"

"Oh, don't act so surprised, Zuzu." She rolled her eyes. "I _made_ this happen." She smirked.

"You…you conspired with the Loyalists?" Zuko snarled. Azula laughed.

"Of course! I'm here to take back my throne!" She snarled back. "I've been waiting so long for this moment! I challenge you to an Agni Kai, right here and now!" She said, getting into a fighting stance. "And if you have any honor left, you'd accept." She smiled darkly. "Or are you too afraid that you'll lose?" She mocked.

"I accept." Zuko growled just as darkly, shedding his heavy robes.

"Put that crown aside, Zuzu. You won't be needing that after this." Azula taunted. Her mindset was straight and clear and she intended to walk this path to the end.

"Fine." Zuko removed the crown and tossed it into one of the nearby bushes. He assumed a traditional stance.

For a few seconds, the royal siblings just looked at each other. The atmosphere was tense. At that moment, Iroh, Ursa, and Kazura rushed over, all looking disheveled.

"Azula! What are you doing!?" Ursa cried, horrified.

"What does it look like?" Azula chuckled. "I'm getting my throne back, of course!" She didn't look at Kazura, but she could picture the expression on her sweet niece's face.

"Then come and get it!" Zuko roared, punching forward just as the sun rose above the crater. There was an awkward silence when his flames fizzed out right in front of his fist.

"What was that?" Zuko said, shocked. He tried again, but was met with the same results. Azula smirked and generated lightning quickly, blasting Zuko off his feet by aiming for the ground right in front of him.

"AUNTIE! What are you doing?" Kazura cried out, tears running down her face. Ursa restrained her, shedding tears of her own. The resulting explosion from her lightning threw them backwards. Iroh quickly covered the two of them as they were launched back. Azula laughed madly, but it wasn't with reckless abandon. A more observant person at a better time might have noticed that it was forced, but nobody present did.

"Bending suppressant, Zuzu. You really should check your servants again." She smirked, taking a packet of powder from one of her pockets and forcing it down a dazed Zuko. "That was enough to strip you of your bending for a day." She smirked. "Loyalists!" She called. Men and women alike surged in and took Zuko, Kazura, Ursa, and Iroh.

"Throw them into the dungeons and _do not _underestimate them under _any_ circumstances! I want them guarded at all times, and suppress Iroh's and Kazura's bending." Azula demanded.

"Yes princess." They murmured, dragging the four royal family members away. Zuko spat at Azula, who just regarded them emotionlessly.

"Princess, when do you wish to be crowned?"

"My coronation can wait until tomorrow." Azula said dismissively. "After you station guards around the four of them report to me in the throne room immediately." She ordered.

"Of course, princess." They bowed. "Drag them away!" One of them barked.

Azula turned her back on the retreating forms of her mother, uncle, brother, and niece. Her mouth was set in a hard line and her eyes were resolute. She retrieved the crown and stared into her distorted reflection in the gold.

"Forgive me."

* * *

**Oh, Azula, you keep us guessing all the time.**


	13. Legend of Azula

**Well, here you go. I hope you'll like this.**

* * *

Exactly one year after the second Agni Kai between Zuko and Azula, the Firelord took a day off from all of his duties. He walked alone up a worn path to the western edge of the caldera. A large golden statue was erected at the end of the path, looking down over the city with a fierce but beautiful expression.

Zuko kneeled in front of the statue and bent fire into the brazier around the statue. He looked at the wooden nameplate with wet eyes. The plate read: 火烈公主阿祖拉 (Fire Princess Azula).

"Azula." The thirty-one year-old Firelord whispered. "Thank you again for everything, sister." He gritted his teeth as memories flooded his mind.

"_Have you heard? Assassins broke into the palace and killed the princess!" A loyalist ran into the dungeons under the palace, eyes wide._

"_What?" The loyalist guards all gasped. "But how?"_

"_I don't know! Come quickly, though!" The loyalist said._

"_What about the prisoners?" One of them asked, gesturing to Zuko, Kazura, Ursa, and Iroh._

"_Their bending is suppressed." The informer said. "Leave them, and come quickly to the throne room!"_

"_Did you just hear that?" Zuko whirled around. "Azula…Azula's been assassinated?"_

"_Move, Zuko!" Iroh took a deep breath. "They should not underestimate us." He opened his mouth, and once again his fiery breath escaped him. The Dragon of the West blew the iron bars apart with his scorching fire breath, and the four of them quickly escaped. When they reached the upper parts of the palace, they headed to the throne room and found shocked loyalists surrounding a body. Zuko and Iroh quickly subdued the loyalists and Zuko shouted for palace guards, who quickly captured the loyalists._

"_Bring them down to the dungeons." Zuko said harshly. "And leave us!" He said, making his way to the body on the throne. The four of them kneeled around the body of Azula. Her face was peaceful, a slight smirk still present, smug even in death. Zuko ripped her sleeve apart and touched her wrist. Her skin was still lukewarm._

"_She passed recently." He said. Kazura had her head buried in Ursa's robes, and Iroh stared down at his niece in shock. Zuko's eyes burned, and he started to pick his sister up, when his eyes caught a glint of gold. _

_The headpiece of the Firelord and a note fell out of Azula's robes. Zuko set his sister's body down carefully and opened the note._

"_What does it say?" Ursa whispered._

"_The loyalists have all been taken care of. You can take care of your guards, Zuko. Go to my room and move my mirror. Behind it you should find a loose metal board. Open it." Zuko read. _

"_She knew." Iroh said sadly. "She knew we'd escape by nighttime, which is when the suppressants would wear off." He said. Zuko remembered Azula telling him that his bending would be gone for a day._

_He let a sob escape his lips._

"_We have to give her a proper burial first." He said, looking at the crown. "She never crowned herself." He suddenly realized. "I…I'm still Firelord even though she defeated me."_

"_As I said, she knew." Iroh said. "Come." He said. "We have much to arrange."_

Zuko sobbed in front of the statue of his sister.

"I'm sorry, 'Zula." He choked. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you." He clenched his hands into fists and punched the ground, releasing a shout of agony. He remembered hurrying to Azula's room after the funeral.

_Zuko opened the compartment behind the mirror and took out the scroll, untying the ribbon. His heart clenched when he realized that it was the ribbon his sister used to tie her hair with. He grasped it in his hands tightly and fought tears as he unrolled the parchment._

"_Dear Zuzu," Zuko smiled sadly when he read this. Trust Azula to call him this even in a letter such as this._

"_By now I'm probably dead. If you're reading this, I definitely should be." He read, laughing thickly. "Well, just so you know, these past two years I have been infiltrating the Triple Threats undercover, and I've kept in touch with the Loyalists. They both have different agendas. A year ago I learnt that Zolt was planning to assassinate you and then make quick work of Kazura. Obviously he did not expect me to come back to Caldera City. Yes, Zuko, I did it to protect Kazu. With you dead, she'll have to become Firelord, and she's too young, but don't take it badly, brother. I do love you enough to die for you too." He muttered. He smiled tearfully at her statement. It was so Azula._

"_On the other hand, the Loyalists were planning for me to take over the throne. They concocted a good plan, I must admit. It fit with my plans perfectly. They infiltrated the palace and gave you bending suppressants so I could challenge you. As you know I did not crown myself, which means I was never Firelord, and you would still hold your title. By throwing you, Kazu, uncle, and mother into prison I knew you would be safe, and I also knew that the same night an assassin would be sent by Zolt, so I had to take your place."_

"_Azula…" Zuko whispered in shock. She did all of this for him? She risked her life for two years and destroyed her reputation in Republic City and then challenged him to an Agni Kai again…and finally died in his place. Biting back a howl of pain, Zuko looked at the letter again and read the rest of it with feverish eyes._

"_I have a favor to ask of you, Zuko. See, when Kazu was five, I told her that I'd take her to see father. Before I left for Republic City I told mother that I had promised Kazu that she could see father, but the schedule of the enemies' plans were so tight that I couldn't fit anything in, and now…I never could. I just want to ask you to take Kazu and mother and see father together. I'm sorry I won't be there with you, but if I didn't die, you would not be alive either, so I have no regrets." _

_Zuko scanned the last part and sunk to his knees, letting the letter flutter to the ground. The words would haunt him for the rest of his life._

"I'm sorry I could not keep the promise I made to you twenty-five years ago, Zuzu." Zuko whispered, reciting the words that were burned into his mind. "Looks like you've finally beaten me." He whispered.

A hand came to rest on his shoulder, and Zuko looked up. Iroh's old, kind face looked down at him. Zuko turned, and saw his family and friends all gathered behind him. He looked at the ground again, tears running down his face.

"She was the bravest of us all in the end." Aang said quietly. After the news of Azula's death reached Republic City, he and the others dealt with Zolt and the triads quickly and effectively, using their rage and grief to fuel their attacks. They returned to the capital of the Fire Nation as soon as they finished rounding everyone up. After the truth of Azula's leave of absence was released, she was honored as a national and worldwide hero, an idol for children growing up all around the world.

"I never got to say goodbye." Zuko said quietly, wiping his tears away angrily. The memory of Azula was as fresh as ever, plaguing his consciousness and dreams even after a year.

"Dad, aunt 'Zula's always going to be in our hearts." Kazura said softly. "We don't have to say goodbye as long as she is with us, maybe not in body, but in spirit."

"Well said." Aang smiled. "Zuko, instead of mourning her, we should honor her instead." He paused. "I propose that today should be a national holiday celebrated in honor of Princess Azula." He declared. "What do you think?"

"I think it's wonderful." Ty Lee whispered, looking up at one of her oldest friends. The way the sun glinted on the statue made Azula's eyes come to life. It looked like the exact shade of gold her eyes were in real life. Ty Lee felt her heart clench, and hot tears threatened to overwhelm her composure.

"Yes. I think that will work." Zuko said, standing. He gazed at the statue, and everyone else looked up as well.

"I never thought we'd be here in a situation like this." Sokka stated. "I always thought Azula would either come out victorious and we'd be done for, or we'd never have to see her again."

"Fate is strange." Iroh said. "But we make our own destinies, and she made her own legend." He praised.

"When I first held her in my arms, I knew she was destined to be great, but after I was banished I always thought she would be great, but terrible." Ursa admitted. "But now, she's great, and respected…and loved." She said. Kazura grasped her grandmother's hand tightly.

"We should get back to the palace." Zuko said. "I'm going to do the paperwork and announce this today, so the people can benefit from a holiday right now." He said. Everyone nodded and began to walk away. Zuko lingered slightly, gazing at his sister's statue again.

_Zuko's eyes glazed over as he looked at his sister's signature at the end._

"_My eternal love and gratitude," Zuko read. "Azula." He finished._

"My eternal love and gratitude as well, Azula." He smiled, placing a hand over his heart. Then he turned and hurried after the others.

A soft wind blew across the caldera, and for a fraction of a second, the flames Zuko lit in the brazier blazed blue.

"I can't believe I've been dead for a year." A voice commented. Two figures watched the group walk away.

"Time flies when you're dead." The second figure said in an ancient and powerful voice.

"Was that supposed to be funny? Because it wasn't." The first voice snarked.

"Aren't you supposed to be a bit more respectful to your elders?" The second voice asked amusedly.

"Yes, well, when you finally told me who you were, you laughed at my reaction. I still resent you for that." The first voice said.

"It was to be expected."

_Azula was cold. She has never felt so cold in her life. Her limbs were leaden, and when she tried to lift a finger, it felt like she was stuck in time. Sluggishly, her eyelids opened. A foggy sky greeted her, and she could feel something wet covering her entirely._

_She groaned, and then sound came out small and defeated._

_Suddenly, the foggy atmosphere dissipated and the sun shone through. Azula's body arched as fire raced through her veins. She rose above the ground, which she realized was the seaside. Steam curled off her as her heat evaporated any liquid left on her clothes or skin. Incredible power and warmth surged through her being, and her eyes glowed golden._

_There was a roar from the heavens, and something approached her from the center of the sun. Azula squinted, still suspended in midair. As the creature came closer she gasped. _

_A pure white dragon raced towards her at an alarming speed. As it got even closer, Azula could see into its eyes. Amber met gold._

_The dragon roared, and blue fire engulfed her. Yet she did not feel any pain. Through the inferno of blue, she could see the dragon still barreling towards her, and she closed her eyes when it impacted with her. She was driven backwards as the dragon somehow flew _into _her, disappearing into her._

_As soon as its tail entered her, a bright white flash lit up the whole area, and Azula began to fall, losing consciousness._

_When she next opened her eyes, she woke to see a great, ancient-looking red dragon peering at her with deep golden eyes. She yelped, sitting up, making the dragon recoil._

"_Where am I?" She asked, surprised that her voice wasn't raspy. She regarded the dragon cautiously. Her uncle Iroh had slain the last dragon, so she was either dead or living a very bizarre reality._

"_You are in the spirit world, my child." The dragon spoke in an old and wise voice. _

"_Hmm." She murmured. So she was dead after all. Then she remembered the assassin killing her with a poisoned dart, thinking that she was Zuko. Aha._

"_Was it worth it, child?" The dragon asked._

"_Yes, it was. I made three promises in my life that I truly meant." Azula said. "I could not keep two of them, but I honored the first to the word. I protected Kazura from the pressures of the throne with my life. If Zuko died, then she would have to take over the throne as per the rule regarding the ascension to the throne." She looked into the dragon's eyes again. "I have no regrets." She said simply, repeating what she had written to Zuko in her letter._

"_Yet you never said goodbye, my child. Do you not at least feel a slight bit of regret for that?" The dragon asked._

"_Yes, but what's done is done. They will understand." Azula said adamantly, standing. "And why do you keep calling me 'child'? I am the daughter of Ozai and Ursa, and nothing else." She said._

"_Not even the princess of the Fire Nation? Conqueror of Ba Sing Se? Slayer of the Avatar? Wielder of the Spirit Flames?" The dragon asked coyly. _

"_The Spirit Flames?" The last words caught Azula's attention. She focused her attention on the dragon._

"_My dear child, what is the color of spirit magic?" The dragon laughed. "It is blue, like your flames. When you were born, the spirits saw fit to gift you with the rarest color ever present in fire. Even the flames of life…" The dragon raised his head and breathed a blaze of red, gold, green, and purple into the sunny skies. "Even the flames of life are not blue. You were destined to be something great, Azula. Your mother knew this, but under the influence of your father the greatness was marred. The spirits miscalculated." The dragon sighed. "But here you are."_

"_Why is Kazu's fire blue, then?" Azula questioned. _

"_Indeed." The dragon sounded amusedly. "She was not blessed with the Spirit Flames by the spirits themselves, child." He said. "When you made the promise to protect her with your life, you transferred some of your life force to her, and therefore some of your powers. A promise like that is not to be taken lightly in the spirit world." The dragon said seriously. "To put it simply, when you died, Kazura found herself unable to bend blue flames anymore. When you died, your soul became whole again, and your life force came back to you. Nevertheless, your niece is an exceptional bender, child." The dragon's eyes twinkled at her._

"_One last question." Azula said pensively. "You know so much about fire, and you're a dragon…who are you?" She asked. _

"_Child, have you not guessed?" The dragon laughed, spreading its great wings. He hovered in the air. "I am the origin of fire. I am the sun. I am life."_

"_I am Agni."_

Azula glanced at the silent dragon next to her.

"Why are we here again? You just said you wanted me to come. It's only been a year." She said, tapping her foot.

"I have an offer for you."

* * *

**YAY! Azula isn't completely out of the story! Woo!**


	14. Epilogue: Final Goodbyes

**The final chapter. It has Tyzula at the end, but it's fluffy. If you don't like it, sorry, but I find the ship cute.**

* * *

_144 ASC_

Zuko stood next to his daughter, his greying hair done in its usual topknot. However, something was missing from it. The usual crown he wore was not present behind his topknot. Instead, it was in the Fire Sage's hand.

The black-haired woman kneeled on the platform before the coronation plaza. The Fire Sage took the crown and put it in Kazura's topknot.

"All hail Firelord Kazura!" He announced. The Fire Nation citizens in the plaza went wild for their beloved Crown Princess, now Firelord.

Kazura raised a hand.

"Please." Her voice was soft at first. The crowd died down, eagerly awaiting the customary speech of a newly crowned Firelord. "First of all, I want to thank you for everything you have done to help my father restore our nation." She looked at Zuko, who smiled encouragingly, knowing what his daughter will say. The former Firelord had chosen to retire and give the place to his daughter, preferring to travel around the world again with the old gang, solving disputes not just in the Fire Nation or Republic City.

"But as many of you know our nation would not be this prosperous now without the help of someone I still love and cherish and hold dear in my heart." Kazura said loudly, firmly. "Her name was Azula, princess of the Fire Nation for twenty-eight years until 114 ASC, daughter of Ozai and Ursa, great-granddaughter of both Firelord Sozin and Avatar Roku. She was a hero, but more importantly, she was my aunt." Kazura said. The whole crowd hung onto every word she spoke. "She was my mentor. She taught me the basics of my firebending." She said. Everybody knew the prowess of Kazura, daughter of Firelord Zuko and Fire Lady Mai. She was a legendary bender, the best in the world after Azula passed away. She was admired by children all around the world, feared by criminals, and respected by even the haughtiest of adults.

"I would not be here if not for her, and neither would my father." Kazura said again. "So I would just like to say—"

"There's a spirit approaching." The Avatar stepped up, cutting Kazura off with an apologetic expression. Then his expression contorted and he breathed fire out.

A roar could be heard all around the caldera.

"That…sound…" Zuko gasped.

"A spirit dragon!" Aang exclaimed, frowning. Soon, a white dragon descended upon the plaza, heading straight for Kazura. The people screamed, but the dragon ignored them. It curled around Zuko, Kazura, and Aang.

Honey amber eyes bore into Kazura's own, and a memory was triggered.

"_Go on, you can hold her." A low voice encouraged. She felt herself move from rough hands to soft ones, and glowing honey eyes stared into her own._

"_What are you going to name her?"_

"_Kazura."_

"A-Aunt Azula?" Kazura whispered. The dragon gave her something resembling a smile.

"Azula?" Aang and Zuko whispered, astonished. The white dragon sighed in a distinctive voice.

"I'm surprised it took you that long to recognize me, but I suppose I didn't use my signature trick." The Azula-dragon's nostrils flared, and the coronation flames turned blue. Azula breathed over Kazura, and a soft blue glow encompassed the woman.

"There. That is my gift to you, Firelord Kazura." Azula said. She unfurled herself and went to hover over the crowd. "I will be waiting by the turtleduck pond after the coronation."

Kazura finished giving her speech, although it held a rushed quality. As the people left the plaza, murmurs rippled through the crowd. In the years to come, Kazura would be known as 'Firelord Kazura, Blessed of the Blue Flames' in the Fire Nation, marking her as one of the most prominent Firelords in history.

After the coronation was over, Kazura rushed to the turtleduck pond, feeling like she was five again, waiting for her aunt to join her at the base of the big tree. Her family and friends were already gathered there, but the dragon was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is she?" Ursa asked.

"Mother." Azula's voice traveled into everyone's ears. Then, to everyone's shock, Azula walked out from behind a pillar, decked in the armor she so loved back when she was fourteen, only it was fitted to her mature form now. Kazura noted with amusement that her aunt only looked twenty-eight, then age she died, while she was now forty and the sovereign of their nation.

"Oh, my baby girl." Ursa started to stand but Azula was there in an instant, laying a solid hand on the old woman's shoulders. She gazed into identical eyes. Her mother was still beautiful despite her age, and Azula pressed a tender hand to her mother's wrinkled cheek in a wordless gesture of love.

"I am afraid I cannot be here for too long. I am here to bid my farewell." She said, kissing her mother's forehead. Ursa was crying silently.

"I love you, Azula." Ursa whispered.

"I love you too, mom." Azula finally whispered back, a genuine smile lighting up her sharp yet feminine features. She rose and made her way to Mai and Zuko. She offered a hand to Mai.

"We've had our fair share of…disagreements." Azula spoke. "And now you've been family for so long, I think a truce is long overdue." She said. Mai shook her hand with just the slightest trace of a smile on her lips.

"Indeed it is, Princess Azula." She said. Azula smiled wryly at the title and looked at Zuko.

"Brother. I would have laughed at whoever said you would become Firelord and rule better than any ever had before…and probably throw them in prison too." Azula smiled crookedly, and Zuko mirrored the smile. He opened his arms, and Azula stepped into them, and they hugged for the first time in their lives as true siblings. "But now?" She laughed. "I honestly could not picture me on the throne as much as I try."

"Thank you, sister." Zuko said, gratitude overflowing in his words. "For everything you've done for me…after you turned seventeen, of course." He joked. Azula smirked, and turned to Iroh.

"Uncle. I have nothing to say except that they do not make tea in the spirit world half as well as you do." She said to the old man, who beamed, knowing it was Azula's own form of saying that she loved him.

"Do not worry. I will be joining you shortly. If I remember correctly, your favorite brew is still Pu-erh?" He asked. Azula grinned at his blunt statement. It was astonishing how tenacious Iroh was. Truthfully, she had expected her uncle to have joined her sooner, but apparently not.

"Of course."

She then turned to others. "Sokka, Toph, and Aang." She started. "It has been a real pleasure to work with you all in keeping Republic City safe." She smiled. Then she shook hands with all of them, Suki, and Katara.

At last, she turned to Kazura.

"Just…look at you." Azula said. Under her aunt's gaze, Kazura didn't feel like a grown woman with experiences in everything at all. "Is there something you wished to tell me?" She asked.

"Nothing escapes you, Azula." Kazura spoke. Azula smiled proudly when she heard her name spoken without the 'aunt' or 'auntie' in front. "We are married, yet both Bumi and Iroh are in the United Forces."

"Shame they're not in the Fire Nation's navy. I trust that our nation's military still precedes any other military?"

"Of course." Zuko spoke up with a certain pride in his voice.

"Good." Azula said. "One of the only things you did right." She teased Zuko, who rolled his eyes. She placed a hand on Kazura's shoulder.

"I love you, Kazura, and I'm so proud of you." She said. "And when you firebend, you may find that something has changed." She said somewhat mischievously. Kazura raised a hand and conjured a fireball. It blazed blue with a white-hot center. She regarded her aunt with wide eyes.

"Have a good reign, Firelord Kazura." Azula smiled, and leapt into the air. Her body glowed and elongated into the form of a dragon. The elegant creature swooped down and circled the group gathered there.

"I will see you all again. Until then!" Azula said. They watched her fly higher into the skies, eventually disappearing into the glare of the sun.

However, Azula didn't make her way to the spirit world immediately. There were two more people she had to talk to. First she made her way towards the prison that housed her father, sneaking in in human form. She made her way to his cell and knocked out the guard outside of the door before walking in.

"Hello, father." She said calmly. The aged and worn man looked at her with dull golden eyes.

"Azula?" He asked. "What…how are you so young? Last time Zuko came to visit me he looked Iroh's age at the end of the war."

"I died when I was twenty-eight, father, but I'm not here for small talk. First I have a question for you—did Zuko ever take mother and Kazura to visit you?"

"Kazura had just turned ten when they took her to me. She is remarkably like you." Ozai said. Azula smiled. Good.

"I like to think that influenced her life the most." Azula said casually. "But again, I'm not here to talk about her. Oh, wait, before I get to the point, she has just been crowned Firelord today." She said.

"Zuko abdicated?" Ozai raised an eyebrow.

"You could say that." Azula said vaguely. "Now, I came here to give you an offer." She said.

"I'm listening." Ozai said.

"I came to take you to the spirit world." Azula said.

"You mean, to kill me?" Ozai asked, rasping out a laugh.

"Simply take your spirit with me back to the spirit world." Azula said. "After all of the things you did to me, I still love you." She regarded him seriously. "So I'm giving you an easy way out. It will not hurt, and you will not have to spend the rest of your days rotting in here."

Ozai pondered it for a long time. Azula didn't understand—if she were Ozai right now, she'd pounce at the chance.

"So? I don't have all day." Azula had someone else she needed to visit.

"The answer to your offer is no. If I had to die, I die on my own terms, not when someone offers me the easy way out." Ozai said evenly. Azula was too stunned to reply for a few seconds.

"You're a fool." She finally said. "This is about honor, isn't it?"

Ozai didn't reply, but turned his back to her. Azula sneered at her father.

"Have it your way, but whatever was left of your honor was destroyed when you were defeated by Aang and got your bending stripped from you." She said coldly, turning away from her father. "Goodbye." She said with a note of finality in her tone, and strode out the door, slamming it behind her.

When night fell, the moon found Ty Lee crying in her room. She didn't turn when the door opened.

"Suki, if you're here to—" She started.

"Ty, it's me." Azula said softly. Ty Lee whirled around.

"Azula!" She exclaimed. Then her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" She asked harshly. Azula made her way to Ty Lee, placing a hand on the acrobat's arm. Long, slender fingers curled around a pale arm.

"I'm sorry." Azula said. "You must be crying because I didn't address you today." She said perceptively. Ty Lee sniffled, refusing to look at her.

"What I had to say to you was too important and private to be said at the time, Ty." Azula looked at her best friend. Glistening grey eyes looked into her own, hurt and curiosity mingling together. Azula swallowed. Even though she was not truly alive, she still had trouble saying it. "Ty, I…I love you." She said in a breathy whisper. Ty Lee froze under Azula's touch, and the latter quickly drew away. "I'm sorry I never said it before I went, Ty. I just thought that you would have liked to settle down with a boy and have lots of children and—" She was cut off by Ty Lee pressing her lips against hers. All of a sudden they were fourteen again.

The kiss was short and sweet, and when they broke apart, Ty Lee looked years younger. Azula ran a hand through Ty Lee's long chestnut hair.

"I love you too, Azula. Why else do you think I'm not already settled with a boy, as you put it?" Ty Lee said with a sad smile. "When you were gone I was in denial, both of the fact that you were dead and that I loved you. I've learnt to live with it through the years, but that doesn't ease the pain."

"I am here now, Ty, and that's all that matters." Azula said sweetly.

"Spend the night with me." Ty Lee said. "I just want to be with you for another night." She begged.

"Of course, Ty." Azula said. The two of them made their way onto the rooftop where they often visited when they were younger and just sat there watching the starry sky. They talked well into the night, and when sleep overcame Ty Lee, Azula held her in a warm embrace.

The next morning Suki found Ty Lee sleeping on the roof, and woke her.

"Ty, why are you sleeping on the roof? And what's that in your hand?" Suki asked. Ty Lee blinked and sat up, stretching. She was surprisingly agile for her age. She opened her hand and there sat a pearlescent white dragon scale with a slightly blue sheen to it when the light hit it just right. Tears flowed down her cheeks as she closed her eyes, holding it to her heart with a smile.

"An old friend visited last night." She said softly. Suki blinked, confused, then gasped with realization when she made the connection. She then smiled and helped Ty Lee up.

"You love her, don't you?"

"Always." Ty Lee said, and as the sun rose, she swore she could see a white dragon soaring in the beautiful blue and orange sky.

"_I'll be waiting, Ty._" A voice resonated in her head, and a smile lit up Ty Lee's face. Suki had headed down before her, and so she raised the scale to her lips, kissing it softly.

"I know."

_-Fin-_

* * *

**Could not resist the famous line by Snape. There you go, and if you actually read this to the end, I applaud you. Thanks for staying and drop a review if you can!**


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